Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

There were a lot of castles spawning all over the world—large and awe-inspiring.

With no other building still standing straight, they were visible to people from faraway places; one could see the tip of the castle even if they were some kilometers away.

The main point was that there were one or two castles every 10 kilometers; it was a weblike structure, and no matter which side you walked from, after 10 kilometers, you would surely find another one.

As of right now, even the most average of humans have crossed the level 5 barrier and are close to reaching level 10.

But that was for those who tried.

There were still people with levels below 5, and there were still people who had yet to even clear the first scenario.

For now, however, let's focus on a man who is a level 6 human and has stepped into the castle.

But the moment he did...

*Brrrr*

He trembled as he felt the chilled atmosphere within the castle, but steeling his nerves, the man walked deeper into the castle, hoping to find something, but no matter where he went, all he could find were doors.

There were some large doors and some small ones, all attached to the hall or the corridor, pushing out some very fierce mana, as if warning those who tried to enter of their impending doom.

The man, however, pushed open the gate, his black eyes quivering with trepidation.

*Creak*

His heart almost stopped beating the moment the sound of the gate creaking reverberated through the hallway, his gaze peering into the dimly lit room, only to have his breath stuck.

'W-What the hell is that?!'

He screamed inwardly before he rushed toward the entrance of the castle.

'I-I don't want to do it!'

With tears in his eyes, he dashed toward the open entrance of the castle, but the moment he was about to cross the pedestal of the door...

*Baam**Thud*

"Argh…"

He fell to the ground with a palm on his forehead as he stared at the empty space in front of him. He stood up again and pushed his arm forward.

He could perfectly feel the pain on his head, implying that he had crashed into something, but all he saw was empty space.

*Tap*

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But as he pushed his palm forward, his eyes widened as he found himself unable to leave the castle; it was as if there was an invisible barrier stopping him from leaving this place.

"W-What the hell...?"

The guy muttered in disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation, but he was not the only one, as there were many others like him.

But things didn't end there...

*TRRRRIIINNGGGGGG*

A sharp ringing of a bell echoed throughout the castle, causing the guy to stumble and fall to the ground; his breaths paused.

"N-No..."

His head creaked toward the rooms in the hall and the hallway of the castle, and the moment he did...

"Grrrrr..."

"Huff!"

"Grawl."

"Rawr!"

One after another, different kinds of growling could be heard from within the rooms, causing the guy to tremble uncontrollably as if he were having a stroke.

[Sigh... really now? Can't you guys even read the rule??]

Just then, every single human within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar saw a new notification flash past their eyes, along with the voice of the system, filled with disappointment, but one could sense that she had expected this to happen.

The humans could tell that the system just came back to taunt them.

The guy, who was now shivering on the ground as he covered his ears so as to not hear the terrified growls of the beast, had his eyes widen the moment he heard the system's words ringing inside his head.

'F-Fuck...'

He was alone in the area, or at least the closest to this castle, so he entered before anyone could even reach the castle; he wanted to go ahead and grab the relics that were lying around and easy to find.

He now realized that he missed the rules in a hurry to grab the relics, but he still questioned the system...

"T-There was no mention of this ringing sound!"

He, who had his ears covered, spoke in a sharp tone, his voice reverberating throughout the castle, and the growls from the surroundings paused.

The guy, however, was oblivious to it, as he just kept clutching his ears.

[I wonder... how dumb can you humans be?]

The system, on the other hand, just let out some words filled with contempt before it added.

[Do you not know that if there is a rule, there will be a penalty?]

Her voice was jeering as if she couldn't believe how stupid the humans could be.

"B-But there's nothing like that mentioned in the quest window!"

The guy, however, didn't back down; he shot back.

He was already stuck in this situation with nothing to rely on, so he didn't see any loss in arguing with the system.

[...]

The system paused for a while, as if the level of the human mind functioning was a bit too low for her to get.

But for the humans who were stuck in the same situation as the guy, it seemed like the system didn't have an answer, giving them hope that they might just be able to scam the system, but then...

[Oh, this is priceless!]

The system exclaimed in disbelief.

[You all think that I will spoonfeed you with everything? Well, news flash: I won't.

There are things you have to make out by yourself; now stay in a castle filled with awake monsters, aware of your presence, and awaiting your arrival.]

With that, the system went off, and the guy who heard her words couldn't say anything as he sat frozen in his spot.

'I-I can't do anything, then…?'

He muttered in despair, but the next second...

*BOOM*

His body jerked as he crawled back in fright.

"W-WHAT THE HELL?!"

He shrieked, his gaze trembling, and so was his body.

The loud boom he heard was from one of the doors leading to a room in the hall, and whoever was inside it seemed to be wanting to break free.

"I-It won't come out, right system?"

The guy shuttered in nervousness, inquiring the system about his concern, but the system didn't reply to him.

"H-Hey, answer me, please—!"

He spoke again; his tone raised a bit, but his words were cut short by another loud crashing sound.

*BAAM*

This time, it was from the door, about 2 meters away from him.

"N-NOOOO!!!"

He hurriedly stood up and rushed upward, waiting to move away from the hall as the beasts here seemed a bit too violent.

"ROAR!"

"W-WHAT?!"

He almost fell down the stairs leading him up to the first floor when he heard the angry roar coming from above; it was from the room he had stepped into a while ago.

"W-What do I do...?"

The guy's body slumped on the stairs, and his palm clutched his head in despair.

He couldn't go up, nor go down; the beasts were everywhere.

*BAAM*

*BASH*

*CRASH*

All he could do was cover his ears, and hope that maybe, just maybe, the beasts would calm down and let him enter the room—which was not a realistic scenario.

But just then...

*Step**Step*

His gaze lifted in a slow motion, as if the guy had lost hope, turning to look at the entrance of the castle, only to see a trio walking in, and his eyes widened.

'I-If they came in, they would be stuck with me—!'

The guy stood up in shock and was about to rush forward to stop them, but he paused.

'—why should I help them?'

The moment that thought flashed in his mind, he sat back on the stairs and waited for the others to join in on his suffering as well.

He would have no profit even if he saved them by warning them about the danger, so why should he help them?

At least he would have company if they came in, so he let it be.

This was just how every human was right now—profit-seeking.

But well, something as big as the world could change, so how could humans, who are just particles of dust when compared to it, be blamed for changing?